NEW YORK, NY – The world will be seeing a blue moon this New Year’s Eve!

NEW YORK, NY – The world will be seeing a blue moon this New Year’s Eve!

A blue moon is the rare occurrence of having two full moons in one calendar month. They tend to occur once every two-and-a-half years.

Come Thursday, this will be the first time a blue moon has occurred on New Year’s Eve since 1990! Scientists are telling New Year’s celebrants to enjoy it, as it won’t happen again until 2028.

Despite the name, the moon does not actually appear blue. The name seems to have come from a few sources. The earliest recorded use dates back to a pamphlet from 1528, which criticizes English clergymen. The phrase reads, “If they say the moon is blue, we must believe that it is true.”

In another instance, the Catholics identified the Lent Moon when calculating the days for Lent and Easter. If the moon came too early, they called it “betrayer moon”, or belewe moon.

Even in the Farmer’s Almanac, moon scheduling is very important. Every season generally has three full moons. If a season had four, the third full moon was called a blue moon.

There has been a handful of instances when the moon actually appeared blue, such as after the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883 filled the sky with ash, but these were never associated with a 13th full moon.

During your New Year’s Eve celebrations, make sure to look up at the full moon. You may see a red full moon from all the fireworks smoke in the sky!